BOGOTA, Colombia – In an exciting ceremony that had at least 700 national and international guests in attendance, the Eighth International Special Coffees Edition, ExpoEspeciales Café de Colombia, began.
The opening ceremony was presided by the General Manager of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), Roberto Vélez Vallejo, who was accompanied by Mery Santos, the International Women’s Coffee Alliance’s President; the UN Women’s Regional Director for the Americas and The Caribbean, Luiza Carvalho; the Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Robério Oliveira and Yíver Vargas, of the IWCA’s Colombia chapter, before an auditorium full of women involved in the coffee industry, from the bean to the cup, from 30 different countries.
During the first conference of the fair that will last until October 18, representatives of international organizations such as the UN Women and the International Coffee Organization praised the FNC’s work regarding special coffee production and gender equality.
IWCA’s president acknowledged that it was thanks to the gender equality-related work led by the FNC that the decision to choose Colombia as the event’s host country was made. “Colombia has made great progress towards gender equality. (…) We saw the work with Huila women, to name one case study. What Colombia is achieving with many initiatives sets an example for the world,” she added.
ExpoEspeciales Café de Colombia 2015 is the platformfor the Eighth Convention of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) that gathers women from the coffee industry (from the bean to the cup) from India, the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Japan, Australia, the United States, Africa, El Salvador, Guatemala and of course, Colombia, among other counties and continents.
These women were invited to share their experience in order to portray and strengthen the role of women in coffee plantations and the global industry.
Furthermore, UN Women’s Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean, Luiza Carvalho, highlighted the work of Colombia and the FNC in terms of gender equality in the coffee sector, and how it serves as a model for other countries, not only in the agricultural sectors but in the face of the so called Millennium Goals.
On the other hand, the Brazilian Oliveira highlighted the great work Colombia has carried out in terms of gender equality and the generational move in the coffee sector.
“As we have seen in this event, the work in terms of gender equality has been amazing and there is another aspect which Colombia is beginning to work on that is the generational move in the coffee industry. We have to create the conditions so that young people can return to coffee production,” he said.
New countries are being considered for invitations to future ExpoEspeciales Editions
As a way to offer the Colombian consumer new options and flavors from around the world, the FNC is considering inviting new countries to the future editions of the International Specialty Coffee Fair, ExpoEspeciales Café de Colombia, which was announced by the FNC’s General Manager, Roberto Vallejo, yesterday.
“The challenge for next year is to further expand upon the strategy. It would be great to have Ethiopia here, and to taste the great Guatemalan coffee flavors, and it would be great to bring the Brazilian coffees to make an espresso like no other. We are heading that way so that the Colombian consumer may also have the opportunity to taste other coffees and try other flavors and to make this fair the most important specialty coffee fair in a producer country,” said Vélez after inaugurating the Eighth version of this Fair, which is a flagship event of the Colombian Coffee Sector.
Vélez recalled the large number of specialty coffees available in Colombia, within such an extensive territory that covers 10 degrees latitude, while all Central America covers eight degrees, which represents the great offer from regional origins and even the “finca” coffees that may be found in the country.
The FNC’s General Manager highlighted the increasingly significant role of women in Colombia’s coffee plantations. “Women are more careful. (…) and their hard work must be acknowledged,” he said.
More than 120 exhibitors in more than 3,500 square feet
Under the motto “Colombia, a new vision,” the Eighth Edition of the International Specialty Coffees Fair, ExpoEspeciales Café de Colombia 2015, is being held in Corferias.
Andrés Valderrama, Corferias’ director, highlighted that this edition of ExpoEspeciales is without a doubt the largest to date, with more than 120 exhibitors in more than 3,500 square feet of exhibition area.
ExpoEspeciales Café de Colombia has been considered the most important special coffees fair of Colombia, Latin American and the Caribbean, due to the large number of visitors that come every year, its high level academic agenda with relevant themes on the industry (from the bean to the cup), a varied business opportunities and the high level of networking.
The Fair is organized by the FNC as part of its quality, differentiation and value added strategy in order to promote and portray the highest quality coffee production from different regions of the country and to generate more business development opportunities for the benefit of Colombian producers.
